The Paris Blues

Paris is cold. And rainy. And windy. And most of my friends here have friends from home visiting this week during spring break. And all my friends have managed to finish college and therefore no longer have spring break. And I'm feeling disenchanted. So I've decided to make a list of things I do not like about Paris, and a list of things I do like.

I Do Not Like:
Nobody speaks English, at least not that they let on until you've stood butchering their language for 10 minutes. Except in McDonalds, where they find my presence thrilling, and I, theirs.

I don't have a work visa, and therefore don't have a job and therefore, am twindling down my bank account

There is no diet coke

There is no skim milk

Everybody smokes

The dollar is weak, the euro is strong

My friends are not in Paris

Yes, we don't have the best president. But frankly, neither do you. Stop picking on the popular
girl just because she's popular and you're not.

Instant coffee or espresso being the only options.

I DO Like:
It's totally acceptable to have a glass of wine at any time of day

Cheese. Fromage. Queso. I've mastered that language

When I walk into my French building I hear people speaking a million different languages and I really feel part of an international community.

Baguettes

Chocolate macaroon balls of deliciousness

Walking a million flights of stairs a day to cancel out aforementioned balls of deliciousness. And cheese, and baguettes, and wine.

The Sacre Coeur

Seeing the Eiffel Tower from my classroom

Getting really excited every time I understand a word in French

Things I Miss About America:
People

Diet coke

Skim milk

Meijer

Target

The dollar

Eating lunch via the food samples of Whole Foods

New York

DC

East Lansing (Sorry, Ann Arbor, not making the cut. I may be homesick, but not desperate)

Not doing blank x 1.54 every time I buy something.

Being able to communicate.


Alright. That was good to get out of my system. It's a bit sad how much of those lists revolve around cheese and chocolate and diet coke and coffee. If I have a stroke or heart attack at age 25, I'm pretty sure we'll be able to say why.